New Restaurants Are Coming to Pittsford Village — One Permit and One Conversation at a Time
The Short Version
- The Board approved a restaurant, accessory bar, and boutique-pizza spot at 5 South Main on a 5–0 vote, closing by 10 p.m. on weeknights.
- An Irish pub — Angus Irish Pub — is proposed for 5 State Street, the old Rachel's, with a public hearing set for Tuesday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m.
- Rather than cite The Bar over its food-service permit, the Board sent staff and counsel to work through the options with owner Brad Sluman.
- Three storefronts at three stages — one approved, one heading to a hearing, one being helped along — point to a Main Street being tended, not left dark.
- Residents can shape the Angus Irish Pub decision in person on July 14, before the vote is taken.
On the evening of June 9, the Village Board of Trustees worked its way through a familiar-sounding list — permits, hours, refuse handling. But underneath the procedural language, something more hopeful was taking shape. New restaurants are coming to Pittsford Village — three storefronts, at three different stages, all moving toward becoming places people will actually gather.
Here's where each one stands — and how a Board that understands residents want a lively Main Street is helping move them along.
5 South Main Street: Approved — a Restaurant, Bar, and Boutique Pizza
5 South Main Street: Approved — a Restaurant, Bar, and Boutique Pizza
The clearest good news came for 5 South Main Street (also known as 1 South Main). After opening and closing a public hearing, the Trustees voted 5–0 to approve a Special Use Permit for a restaurant with an accessory bar — a project the applicants described as an interior renovation of an existing commercial space to house a restaurant with an accessory bar and a boutique pizza operation.
The approval came with the kind of neighbor-minded conditions that keep a walkable village livable: the restaurant closes by 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and by midnight Friday and Saturday, and refuse handling has to respect the Village's quiet hours.
And this wasn't a project the Village had to be talked into. A Church Street resident spoke in its favor at the hearing, telling the Board that the Village's restaurants have added to neighborhood vitality without much downside. Others who came to the microphone focused on getting the details right — operating restrictions to protect nearby homes, and questions about fire separation and building safety.
5 State Street: In the Pipeline — an Irish Pub in the Old Rachel's
5 State Street: In the Pipeline — an Irish Pub in the Old Rachel's
A few doors away, another storefront is stirring. At 5 State Street — the building many of us still think of as Rachel's, and Starbucks before that, tucked in front of the Village Bakery — a proposal is taking shape for a restaurant and tavern. The application packet carries a name: Angus Irish Pub.
At the June 9 meeting, Ronald Davis, representing the property owner, walked the Board through the plan — the site's history of restaurant use, its existing parking variance, and the proposed hours. Rather than rush it, the Trustees did the orderly thing and voted 5–0 to set a public hearing.
That hearing is Tuesday, July 14, no earlier than 6:30 p.m. — one of those rare moments when a resident's voice can actually shape what goes into a Village storefront before it opens. (More on how to weigh in below.)
Working Through the Fine Print, Together
Working Through the Fine Print, Together
The third case is the least flashy and, in some ways, the most telling. Brad Sluman, owner of The Bar at 9 South Main Street, came before the Board about the real-world difficulty of meeting the food-service requirements attached to his Special Use Permit — the challenge of staffing a kitchen, earlier menu commitments, possible partnerships with neighboring businesses, and the tangle of New York State Liquor Authority rules.
The Board's response wasn't a citation or a closed door. The Trustees directed Village staff and counsel to sit down with him and work through the options. In the same meeting, the Board also signaled interest in a broader conversation about the Village's restaurant operating-hour policies — with Trustee Marshall raising the idea of a dedicated workshop — so that the rules keep pace with the kinds of food-and-drink concepts the Village wants on Main Street.
There's a role for the rest of us here, too. A Main Street business doesn't thrive on permits alone — it thrives when neighbors walk in the door, order a meal, bring a friend, and come back. The Bar is already part of the Village fabric, and the same neighborly attention that fills a new restaurant's tables is what helps an established one adapt and keep going. Rooting for a place like The Bar — and simply showing up — is its own quiet kind of civic work.
The Pattern: New Restaurants and a Board That Hears What Residents Want
The Pattern: New Restaurants and a Board That Hears What Residents Want
Put the three side by side and a picture emerges. One approval. One application moving carefully toward a public hearing. One existing owner the Board is actively helping to keep going. Different stages, same posture: a Village government working to bring its empty and underused storefronts back to life rather than letting them sit dark.
We've written before about Pittsford Village's empty storefronts and why they matter to all of us. The June 9 meeting shows the other half of that story — the quiet, unglamorous work of getting them filled, one permit and one conversation at a time. A Main Street isn't just inherited. It's tended.
How to Weigh In
How to Weigh In
The Angus Irish Pub public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, 2026, no earlier than 6:30 p.m. at Village Hall. If you have thoughts — for or against — that's the moment they count. Public hearings exist precisely so neighbors can be heard before a decision is made.
Confirm the agenda and any time changes on the Village's 2026 meetings page before you go.
Reporting drawn from the Village of Pittsford Board of Trustees minutes and application packet for the June 9, 2026 regular meeting.
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